Re: Call-Only Ads vs Call-Only Campaigns

I've followed up with the Calls team and have gotten to the bottom of this:

Before Call-Only campaigns, there was a call-only feature available that allowed you to click a checkbox on an ad with a Call Extension and make an ad call-only. This was retired with the launch of the new Call-Only Campaign type and call-only ads, and had to be upgraded to the call-only ad type in order to continue driving calls.

You are correct that call-only ads are available in both Call-Only campaigns and regular Search Network campaigns, mixed in with other ad types.. However, the recommendation by the product team, including the Call Ads Product Manager, is to keep these ads in a Call-Only campaign, or at least a separate campaign.

The reasoning here is that if the goal is to drive calls instead of clicks, you will get better results with more strategic targeting, i.e. what works for a call-only ad will not work for a text ad, and vice versa. Housing them in a Call-Only campaign allows you to set an appropriate ad scheduling, budgeting, bidding strategies, language and location settings, etc. for your call-only ads. They also help you to understand the value of the campaign, since this separates phone calls from other conversion actions which are captured in Search Network Only campaigns. You can choose to group all of your ads together in a single campaign if you find you do not need separate budget or setting changes for ads targeting calls, but it is still recommended to keep them in separate ad groups.

You can read more in-depth about their recommendation in this G+ post.

My apologies for the confusion with my previous post. I hope this clarifies and answers your question!

Re: Call-Only Ads vs Call-Only Campaigns

I agree with MosheTLV in general, but I don't see a problem with testing that. The call-only campaign replaced the call-only ad format. When it was available it would apply to phones only. Desktop ads would still go through to the site. The current call-only campaign option is phones only. If the client product/service needs a website to convert people on desktop, this holds true most of the time on mobile. I can think of a few exceptions, which is why I say it might be worth testing.

Re: Call-Only Ads vs Call-Only Campaigns

One example is an insurance agency. For computers we send the person to a detailed quote form that frankly no one on mobile would ever fill out. People on mobile tend to always want to call (based on what we've found). Adding call-only campaigns resulted in a huge increase in the call volume. I was just wondering if we need the campaign or if adding the ads would suffice.

Joy Hawkins, Google My Business Top ContributorWas my response helpful? If yes, please mark it as the ‘Best Answer.’

Re: Call-Only Ads vs Call-Only Campaigns

@JoyHawkins Just want to clarify here: call-only ads within a regular campaign are no longer available. With the rollout of the Call-Only campaign type, which shows ads only on devices capable of making calls, the call-only ad type was retired. So in short--yes, you need to have a separate campaign if you want to run Call-Only ads!

Re: Call-Only Ads vs Call-Only Campaigns

Hey @CassieH I'm confused about this. I just checked a few accounts and we totally have Call-Only ads running in regular campaigns. We also still see the option to add call-only ads. See screenshot below.

Joy Hawkins, Google My Business Top ContributorWas my response helpful? If yes, please mark it as the ‘Best Answer.’